Posts tagged 'trigger point self care'

As we have seen in previous issues, trigger points can sometimes mimic more severe health problems. One of the most serious and concerning health problems is the myocardial infarction (heart attack), which is often accompanied by pain in the left chest,shoulder and down the inside of the left arm, forearm and hand.
These symptoms just happen to be very similar to the symptoms of trigger points in the star of this month's Muscle News ... a chest muscle known as the Pectoralis Minor (Pec Minor).

Have you ever had a pain or "stitch" in your side, maybe in the middle of a fit of laughter? Do you ever have trouble taking a full breath or experience pain in the side while breathing, sneezing, or coughing?
While certainly any trouble or pain with breathing should be examined thoroughly by your doctor, there is a muscular cause that you might be able to take care of yourself assuming everything else checks out okay.
Trigger points in the muscles between your ribs can cause several surprising symptoms, including:

Join us for a free 1 hour webinar sponsored by Custom Craftworks, a brand of Pivotal Health Solutions and while geared for Physical Therapists, Athletic Trainers, Personal Trainers and Massage Therapists. Anyone can use this information to better understand how myofascial dysfunction can impact athletes, exercisers and everyone. Muscles that harbor Myofascial Trigger Points usually show a reduction in strength, power, and even coordination. If these muscles are not worked on, the dysfunction can continue and cause shifts in gait, posture, impaired athletic performance and ultimately can cause pain.

Myofascial Trigger Points are taut bands in muscle, that when pressed on refer pain to an often distant and predictable area. Dr Robert Gerwin reported that as many as 90% of the people entering the medical system with pain, have trigger points as the cause, yet they go undetected because so many health care providers are inadequately trained in their treatment. (Gerwin, RD 1995, Fishbain, DA 1986)

This workshop is especially important for those who work with athletes from all levels including professional NFL, NBA and PGA, as well as the weekend warriors. This workshop will show the athlete, exerciser and the professionals who work with them how to self compress the muscles in the upper body to alleviate myofascial trigger point dysfunction. Range of motion restriction will be assessed for shoulder flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, circumduction and over all dynamic integrated function. The Travell and Simons model for identifying the most probable painful areas will be reviewed, as this will allow the practitioner to most accurately assess and teach the client self-compression techniques to allow return to full strength and performance.

Key perpetuating factors will be discussed. Trigger points cannot be fully eliminated unless the practitioner discovers what postures (during sleep, work, driving, exercise, and training) are out of neutral and can be causing the muscles to be dysfunctional. Structural assessment is also important, and will be discussed.

Beyond formal therapeutic sessions, self-care is a big part of the ongoing healing process – enabling pain sufferers to relieve their pain problems and prevent recurrence. So, if you'd like to increase your knowledge of self-care and get some hands-on practice, join us for an evening of fun and healing through stretching and compression.